We haven't seen him yet but we know he'll be here at some point.
JasonMercier Jason Mercier Bought into the 10k national championship. Field looks too good. Blinding off in that while I fire it in inthe 2-7 NL. #2tabling
July 06 2012
Level: 6
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
Michael Cooper started the hand with open raise to 625 in early position, Pascal LeFrancois raised to 1,525 from the cutoff and Kevin Calenzo five-bet to 3,625 from the button. David Clark folded his big blind, Cooper folded and LeFrancois felt another raise was in order and made it 6,525 to play.
Calenzo sat back in his chair, counted out calling chips and the rest of his stack, but ultimately decided to fold his hand.
Sam Stein started the action on the button with 700, Mark Kroon called from the small blind and Arkadiy Tsinis called from the big blind. The flop came 
, Kroon checked, Tsinis bet 1,300, Stein folded and Kroon called.
The turn came 
and Kroon check-called 2,300. The river came 
, Kroon checked and Tsinis bet 6,800. Kroon tanked for a short while, but then decided to call.
Tsinis tabled 
for a rivered full house and Kroon held onto his cards for several moments. He looked to be in disbelief at the sequence of events and then mucked his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
42,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
||
|
17,800
12,200
|
12,200 |
We caught up with this hand on the flop between Jennifer Parrish and Alex Masek. The board was 
and there was a series of bets and raises we missed. We did see Parrish push all in for just over 20,000 and Masek called.
Parrish: 
Masek: 
The board completed and Parrish doubled her starting stack as Masek slid down the counts.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
60,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
10,000
26,200
|
26,200 |
Freddy Deeb had a few choice words for us as he made his exit. We were watching a hand at a nearby table and told us he was eliminated. He said he flopped a set of deuces and his opponent flopped a set of aces. We believe Justin Gardenhire was the recipient of Deeb's chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
PokerNews reported earlier that Brian Rast got off to a fast start in this event, so we wanted to get a closer look at what makes Rast so dangerous. Here is an entire orbit with Rast.
Hand #1 - Rast started with 66,000 on the button. Jeff Papola raised in the cutoff, and Rast folded his hand. Rast went to his phone, and sent out a text while he was waiting for the hand to finish.
Hand #2 - Rast started the hand by giving Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier change for his big blind. Papola raised it up once again, but this time, Rast fired back with a three bet to 2,025. It got back around to Papola, and he put in a four bet to 5,200. Rast asked him how much he had left, and then kicked his cards in after 15 seconds of thought.
Hand #3 - For the third hand in a row, action started with Papola raising to 700, and for the second hand in a row, Rast three bet to 2,025. This time, it was good enough to make Papola fold his hand, and Rast raked in the pot.
Hand #4 - Papola and Rast continued their raising war with each other, as for the third straight hand, Paopla raised to 700 and Rast three bet to 2,025. This time, Papola called, and they saw a flop of 
. Papola checked to Rast, who fired out 2,475. Papola called, and the turn came the 
. Papola checked again, and Rast kept up his aggression, firing 5,100. Papola folded his cards, and Rast took the pot, upping his stack to 70,000.
Hand #5 - Finally, Papola folded preflop, and Rast also had no interest in playing, as he kicked his cards in from under the gun +1. During the hand, Rast made change once again for an orange T1,000 chip.
Hand #6 - Brian Rast was under the gun, and he quickly folded his cards.
Hand #7 - Action started with Michael Rosenbach raising under the gun to 700, which got calls from Matt Matros on the button, Gary Bolden in the small blind, and Rast in the big blind. The flop came down 
, and it was checked over to Matros, who fired out 1,600. Bolden called, and Rast kicked his cards in. Shortly after, Rast sneezed a couple times, and took a swig from his water bottle. Matros and Bolden went on to play a big pot, and we will post about that shortly.
Hand #8 - Brian Rast was in the small blind, and Amir Lehavot raised to 700. Papola made the call on the button, and Rast released from the small blind.
Rast started the orbit with 66,000, and ended it with 69,000. And that concludes our orbit with two-time bracelet winner Brian Rast!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
69,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
|
||
Players are on another 15 minute break following three levels of action. While you wait, Lynn Gilmartin caught up with some players during an earlier break:
Level: 7
Blinds: 200/400
Ante: 50
Cards are back in the air following the break.
